Smells like the future “What would a candle inspired by your book smell like?” This was a question that was going around the other day, and most authors got to answer with something nice. My book, however… let’s just say it features a neural net-generated recipe called “Basic Clam Frosting”.
But just as I was getting discouraged, I began to notice that it WAS innovating. In among all the copied scents, some of its candles definitely weren’t in the original training data.
I went back to the neural net’s generated list and used a program to filter out the duplicates, revealing that the neural net was inventing new scents after all, candles that had blended in with the ones that already existed.
Mango Vanilla
Summer Sky
Christmas Almond
Wildflower Honey
Vanilla Pumpkin Cake
Kiwi Bourbon
Christmasly Spiced Apple
New Zealand Stars
Alpine Lavender
Rich Berry Frost
Snowy Alberta Night
Midnight Rustling
Spicy Butterscotch On Toast
But if you let the neural net run your candle factory unattended, these scents might be in your lineup: